Russia Forced to Repurchase Arms Previously Exported To India And Myanmar As Western Sanctions Take Effect

After more than a year of the Russia-Ukraine war, Western sanctions are now starting to take its toll on the Russian military-industrial complex.

Faced with a shortage of critical optical equipment, Russia is reportedly forced to buy back optical and night-vision equipment from countries to which it had previously exported, such as India and Myanmar, according to a report by Asia-Nikkei.

According to the report, customs clearance data analysed by Nikkei, shows that UralVagonZavod, the Russian manufacturers of tanks imported military equipments, including 6,775 sighting telescopes and 200 cameras for installations in tanks.

The Russians have more than 5,000 T-72 tanks stored in various warehouses spread over the entire country.

All the stored tanks are of vintage category and require deep modernisation including installation of night-vision equipment, modern digital computers and new armour to make them usable in the war.

Russia, earlier, relied on Western technologies for optical and night-sighting systems, but as the effects of sanctions begin to take effect, sourcing these night-vision equipments is becoming more and more difficult.

This has forced Russia's hands to buy back arms exported to countries, like India and Myanmar.

The report also claims about the Russian Machine-Building Design Bureau (NPK-KBM) importing a total of six components for night-vision sights for man-portable air-defense system, worth $150,000 from the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) in November 2022.

These equipments, which allow the missile to be fired in low-light and night conditions, were exported to India in 2013.

According to the report, these equipments will allow Russia to upgrade older weapons kept in storage and bring them into the fight.